Means to restore the operation of clutch bands



Jan. 16, 1923. 1,442,719

w. J. GALLAGHER.

MEANS TO RESTORE THE OPERATION OF CLUTCH BANDS.

FILED MAR. 24, 1921.

" gmmm Patented Jan. 15, 1923.

httf lld WALTER J. GALLAGHER, or CINCINNATI, omo.

MEANSTO RESTORE THE OPERATIGN OF CLUTCH BANDS.

Application filed March 24, 1921. Serial No. 455,365.

To aZZ w/I am it may concern 1 Be it known thatLlVArrrn: J. GALLAGHER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Means to Restore tl e Operation of Glut-ch Bands, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in tool or attachment to clean and restore the frictional face of clutch bands or linings, such asemployed in automobiles and similar mechanism. One of its objects is to provide a tool adapted to be employed to detach and remove from the face of such clutch bands or linings the accumulated. carbon oil or other foreign matter, usually constituting local or more or less continuous glazed or polished faces upon such bands where the bands come in contact with the face of the drums, and to restore the faces of such bands to their original. fibrous or frictionally engaging and operative state. Another object is to provide an improved tool or implement adapted to be attached to and detached from the drunror drums to which clutch bands or brake bands are applied and to be employed to restore the frictional engaging faces of said bands to their original. or operative condition. ltfly invention also comprises certain details of form, combination and arrangement, all of which will be fully set forth in the description of the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side ele 'ation of a portion of a plurality of drums. and clutch bands such as employed in driving the Ford type of automobile for instance, showing my improved implement in its initial position aboutto be employed on or applied to the inner faces of the clutch bands.

Fig. 2, is a perspective view of the same taken on lines 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a central longitudinal section through the implement detached taken. on line 3*? of Fig. 2. y

Fig; 4:. is a detail partly in section illustrating a modification of the implement.

Fig. is a sectional detail on line of Fig. 3. y

The accompanying drawings illustrate the preferred embodiment of my invention in which 15, 16, and 17 represent three drums of a Ford automobile power transmission mechanism, arranged side by side and each provided with a metal strap ll encircling the peripheryof the drum and each strap pro vided interiorly with a band or lining 18 of asbestos or similar fibrous material. The metal straps are respectively split and one end 19 is attached rigidly to the motor casing 19 while the Opposite end 20 is attached to a shaft 21 provided with a cam 22 and actuated by a pedal or lever 24 to draw the end 20 of the strap 1-1 toward the end 19 of thestrap to thereby force the inner face of the band or lining 18 p 'actically throughout the length of the band 18 into contact with the periphery of the drum to clutch the strap to its drum. The clutching of one of said drums to its strap serves to apply slow speed, the clutching of another drum to its strap servesto reverse the automobile drive, and the clutching of the third drum to its strap serves to apply the brake. The bands 18 are attached to the straps by means of soft copper rivets.

ld hen these drums, straps and bands are assembled in the casing they are partially immersed in oil, and become freely saturated and covered with oil. Also when first assembled the inner face of the bands are of soft or yielding fibrous texture adapted t cling to the face of the drums and to readily serve to clutch the drums to the straps when the straps are tightened about the drums. After a period of wear and use the inner faces of the bands 18 become coated with accumulations of carbon, dirt. and other foreign substance with either locally or over extended surfaces form glazed or partially glazed surfaces on the .inner faces of the bands, which glazed or partially glazed faces render the clutching action of the bands upon the drums irregular and un certain. and hence render the control of the operator over the automobiles unreliable and uncertain, and their operation in such condition dangerous. It has been the practice heretofore when such conditions develops to discard the bands, usually including the straps. and to replace them with new ones involving quite frequent and expensive re placements.

I have discovered thatthe application of a suitable cutting or scraping implement to the inner faces of the bands will result in detaching the accumulated foreign matter and glazed and partially glazed surfaces, so as t restore the bands to their original texture and efiiciency'in clutching the drums to the straps until such time as a new accumulation of foreign matter shall have occurred. which may in turn be similarly and successively removed,

The clutch bands are to be restored without removing them from their housing and the space available to introduce a tool is limited, and also the rivets with which the bands are secured to the straps and all rendrums of a series of drums. as illustrated forinstance. In the Ford automobile mechamsm there 1s a bolt or screw. designated as a driving plate screw earned by the ,brake drum 17, by bending over one end 31 of the tool 30 and perforating the end 81, I am enabled to employ the said driving plate screw which is designated as 31 to clamp one end of the tool 30 to the brake drum 17. An independent screw 34- may be employed if desired.

At the opposite end the tool 30 is folded upon itself at 32 and an off-set 36 is formed therein. A bolt 37 is passed through perforations 3S and 39 in the respectivesections of the folded end of the tool and said bolt is provided with a nut 40, whereby the tool 30 is firmly clamped as illustrated at Fig. 2, to the inwardly projecting annular flange 4-1 and outwardly projecting flange i2 ofthe reverse drum 1.5. By passing the bolt through two perforations 38 and 39. the lateral movement of the bolt is limited. and it can be more conveniently utilized to clamp the tool to the drum 15.

The clamping of the tool to the drums is effected at a point intermediate of the ends '19 and 20 of the straps 14, and the automobile driving mechanism being set to its high speed position. the respective drums 15 16, and 17 are all clutched to rotate in unison. After the tool 30 is clamped to the drums, andv tl1esti':ps are in their relaxed or open position. the edge 4-5 of the :tool which is preferably sharpened or bew eled for the purpose. is introduced. beneath the ends of the bandsamder the loose end 20 of the straps, by the operator turning the engine shaft over by hand. The turning of the engine shaft byhand is continued until the tool makes nearly a complete revolw tion and is nearly under the end '19 of the strap. More or less power is applied to one or all of the straps 14 to close the bands 1R upon the drums and the tool. and drums rotate in reverse direction until the tool 30 returns to its original position Fig. 1. The

foregoing operation of the tool is repeated two or three times with the result that the with and remove the glazed faces and accumulated foreign matter from the inner "faces of the bands, and restore the inner faces of the'bands to their original operative condition. The tool is then unclampcd and removed until required again to repeat the operation. The central portion of the tool where the perforations 47 are formed raised into a rib 48 extending across the face of the drums, and the relation of the cutting edges of the perforations to said rib is such that the foreign matter may be cutor scraped from the bands without liability of the rivets which hold the hands to the straps becoming caught or locked to said tool 30.

In the modification Fig. 4.1 have illustrated a tool 30 to be clamped to the drums and which has a rib 48' and instead of liiV- ing perforations has inclined channels 50 cut across the rib 4:8 with cutting or scrap ing edges at opposite sides'of said channels which also are adapted to scrape the face of the bands without being caught by the rivets.

Special types of said tool adapted to clean one or more bands at one operation. and to meetthe requirements of different mechanisms and structures are contemplated to be provided.

The aqrparatus and method herein illustrated and described is capable of considerable modification without departing; from the principle of my invention.

Vhat I claim is:

1. In combination with a clutch drum. a clutch strap, and clutch band, a scraping im plement carried by the drum and adapted to be interposed between the clutch drum and clutch band to scrape the inner face of the clutch band.

2. In combination with a clutch drum, a clutch strap, and clutch band, a scraping implement carried by the drum and adapt ed to be interposed between the clutch drum and clutch band to scrape the inner face of the clutch band. said scraping" implement being provided with means at each end to temporarily clamp the scraping implement to the clutch ch: 111.

3. In combination with clutch drum, a clutch strap. and clntchband. a scraping iniplement attached transversely across the clutch drum and adapted to more with said drum beneath the clutch band to scrape the inner face of the hand, saidimpleinent being iirorided with a. sharp edge to enter beneath the end of the band and a raised ribwith scraping edges thereonto engage the inner face of the band.

In testimony whereof Ihave afiixed my signature.

WALTER J. GALLAGHER. 

